Buddhist
monks, at least as they are usually presented in movies,
are the very epitome of peace, wisdom and tolerance, and only
use their sometimes considerable martial arts skills to protect
the lives of others. Those who run monasteries are wise
old sages whose teachings provide inspiration for their
young charges, and discipline, on the rare occasions it
is called for, is administered with both a firm hand and a kindly
smile.

If
that's also been your experience, then the bunch who run
the monastery in the enigmatically titled Arhats
in Fury will come as something of a jolt. No sign
of the gentle old souls of Khyentse Norbu's 1999 The
Cup [Phörpa] here – these
guys run the place with big sticks laced with an unforgiving
dollop of Catholic guilt imposition and Islamic fundamentalism.
Break the rules here and you have to collect herbs, and
that doesn't mean nipping out to the garden with a small
basket on your arm, but being dangled over a cliff on a
rope as rocks tumble down all around you. If you don't fancy
that you can always opt for the alternative and undertake
an exhausting ascetic mission. And this is for minor infringements
– more serious rule breaches can result in a limb being
lopped off. At this draconian establishment the most serious
breach of all appears to be using martial arts without permission.
Do that and you're really for it, whatever the
circumstances.

The
film kicks of as two of the naughtier monks – orphaned Zhi
Xing and his sifu (master) Jiao Yuan – are returning from
the ascetic mission they have chosen as their punishment.
Any idea that this might be the easy option (believe
me, the herb collecting does not look a barrel of laughs)
is quickly dismissed as the two lie in a state of exhaustion
and are about to be pecked to bits by crows, when Zhi suddenly
wakes and rips one of the birds in half and uses its blood to
revive the fading Jiao. The
pair stumble into the rustic local township, which is in the
process of being terrorised by a warrior army known as the
Jins. Not the nicest of people, they set about beating up and maiming
the locals, and are on the verge of hurling a child onto
a spear when Zhi intervenes and gives a few of them a sound
seeing-to. He is soon assisted by a sweet-looking girl with
fearsome fighting skills, a key member of a local resistance
militia who ultimately drive the Jins out of town. She likes Zhi
a lot, but, well, he's a monk, and everyone seems to think
she is a he because she tucks in her hair and fights so well.

Back
at the monastery, Zhi gets a sharp reminder of just how
seriously the rules are taken there. Word has reached the
elders about his unofficial use of martial arts and he
takes a beating as punishment. Never mind that he saved
a child's life and helped the oppressed, no sir. Just as
well no-one told them about the crow. A little while later
the villagers arrive en masse looking for protection – the
Jins have reached the local township and are on their way
to the monastery. When they arrive they establish themselves
as martial arts movie bad guys in the time honoured way
by demanding the building be handed over to them, by humiliating
the monks, by killing and maiming a few of them, and by cackling
maniacally at everything they do. It all proves too much
for Jiao and Zhi, who leap into action for long enough for
the resistance army to arrive and once again send the Jins
scurrying.

Suddenly
Jiao and Zhi are heroes – their fellow monks rejoice and
the abbot commends Zhi for saving them. Then what happens?
The elders once again berate him for using martial arts
without permission and order an immediate amputation. What
is wrong with these guys? Zhi manages to escape
with help from the girl that everyone except the audience thinks is a boy, but takes
his guilty conscience with him and is relentlessly pursued
both by the enforcer monks and the angry Jins, while the
abbot is left to consider whether he has been true to Buddhism.
Not in my bloody book, matey.

All
this and more does not make Zhi Xing your standard genre hero
– he's in conflict not just with the bad guys but also his own
people and even himself, and tragedy follows him around
like a sad but devoted dog. But bloody hell can he fight.
The action scenes are a while coming, but when they arrive
they are something else, a blistering blend of Peking Opera
acrobatics and superbly choreographed unarmed combat and
swordplay that is as impressive in its way as anything in
the recent spate of internationally acclaimed Wuxia dramas
of the Crouching Tiger school. The link
extends to sometimes epic scale of the background detail
(there are a LOT of costumed extras here) and the refreshing
gender equality of the fighting skills.

If
the storytelling is a little clunky at times and the characters
as deep as a paddling pool in a drought, the film still
delivers on pace, action, and the odd scene that is so left
field that you'd have to be psychic to see it coming – at one point, outnumbered
in the woods by Jin warriors, Zhi lets out a loud whistle
that prompts all the animals in the vicinity to attack the
enemy in force. A handsomely shot and edited production, it's nonetheless
the fight choreography and the timing and athleticism of
the performers that are the real stars here and which make the
film a must-see for all discerning genre fans. There's only
real fly in the ointment here, and I'll get to that
shortly...

sound and vision

OK,
it's a 55th Chamber release and so I know what to expect,
except... The film starts and I'm confused. Is this an anamorphic
print? Yes it is! And the contrast looks pretty good, and
the detail levels and colour aren't bad, and there is an
option of three different soundtracks and the subtitles
are not burned in! That'll teach me to pre-judge. OK, it's
not all good. The contrast and brightness are a tad off
at times, meaning that night exteriors are REALLY dark and
the shadow detail can be a little weak. There is some visible
frame jitter here and there and the odd frame or two is
actually missing. Edge enhancement has been seriously overused,
resulting in very visible halos not only within the picture,
but on the top and bottom borders of the frame itself, and
there is a noticeable red hue to some of the scenes that
makes faces look a little sunburned. Dust spots are plentiful
at times, but elsewhere the print is impressively clean
of blemishes. It's still some way from perfect, but it's
far and away the best transfer I've yet seen on a 55th Chamber
release. I'd venture to say that this has been licensed
from another source.

Three
soundtracks are available: Mandarin, Cantonese and English.
All are technically 5.1, but effectively are mono and a
tad fluffy at that, but serviceable enough. There is, however,
a small issue here that genuinely effected my appreciation
of the film – all three soundtracks appear to be out of
sync with the picture by about half a second. While this makes
little difference to the dialogue, which is all post-dubbed,
it really interferes with the action scenes. Part of what
sells a movie punch or a kick as real is the albeit exaggerated
noises that subconsciously assure us that contact was made,
that this guy here really got hit, that this sword really
did cut the air in two. When the related sound effect occurs
half a second later, the illusion is effectively shattered.
While I appreciate that 55th Chamber probably inherited
these problems with the package, a couple of hours on Final
Cut Pro could have easily put this right.

The
English subtitles, as mentioned above, are removable rather
than the usual burned in, and themselves suggest a non-English
source. Though largely fine, there are a few interesting
grammar and spelling hiccups, from the occasionally random
capital letter to not-quite-there phrases like "Buddha
is live," "Corner them up," and "I insist
to arrest him."

extra features

Rather
than the usual so-called trailer made up by 55th Chamber
themselves, this time we have the Original Theatrical
Trailer (3:57), which is non-anamophic scope
but has a signal encoded that stretches it on widescreen
TV's nonetheless. It's also the original Chinese trailer,
but there are no subtitles in case you want to know what
the enthusiastic narrator is rattling on about.

The
usual promo for other releases and web links are also included.

summary

A
definite step in the right direction for 55th Chamber and
a good find for martial arts cinema fans, the disc still
comes only cautiously recommended. Retailing at just £6
and available for less if you look around, the low price
tag makes the picture imperfections just about tolerable,
given the sheer quality of the action. But the synchronisation
issue is another matter – speaking personally it really
did interfere with my involvement in what are some of the
most impressively staged martial arts sequences I've seen
all year. For hardened fans, this may be something they
have to swallow to get to the goodies, but it's a shame
this couldn't have been rectified prior to release.